Defending Sirianni

Nick Sirianni is catching a lot of flak, both locally and nationally. Some of that is absolutely deserved. He’s had an odd season and his actions at the end of the win over Cleveland were just dumb. He admitted as much today.

At the same time, because of social media and the internet, there is an ability to pile on a person in a way that you never could before. Nick Sirianni didn’t get arrested for DUI. He didn’t get caught cheating on his wife. There isn’t a player mutiny where it has come out that they hate the coach.

Sirianni yelled at some fans.

It was a stupid moment. But I think the reaction has gone a bit overboard, with everyone having an outrage contest. Who can be madder? Who can make the most notable criticism?

Sirianni frustrates the heck out of me at times. He treats minutae like state secrets, despite the fact that the other 31 teams usually know who is injured and who will be starting. Sirianni doesn’t want to give anything away. That makes some sense, but would make even more if it really felt like the Eagles got an advantage out of it.

Sirianni flies through his core beliefs like someone regurgitating cult info. I would advise him to quit talking about those in press conferences unless he can figure out a way to make it sound more genuine and less like a manifesto.

I would love for Sirianni to do some things differently with game management and with the offense. Every week I find myself saying “I hope you’re right Nick”. Sometimes he is, sometimes he isn’t.

Let’s mix in some context. Andy Reid used to drive me crazy. He wouldn’t run the ball as much as any of us wanted. His pass-happy offense worked well with Donovan McNabb. It has been elite since he got Patrick Mahomes. He had the right ideas, but not the guys to maximize them. Andy’s PCs were torturous at times. He protected his players and said very little. I remember being shocked when he was critical of McNabb after a loss in 2006.

Big Red is lucky he didn’t coach the Eagles at the height of social media or he’d have been under a lot more pressure. He got scrutinized on message boards (EMB, Concrete Field, etc.), but things would have gone to the next level in the current environment.

I think we have to give Sirianni credit for winning.

9-8
14-3
11-6
3-2

He’s got three straight trips to the playoffs and has a good chance to make it again this year if the team can stay healthy. Sirianni got the team to the Super Bowl in 2022. Don’t take that for granted.

Dallas 1995
NY Giants 2011
Washington 1991

Those franchises would kill for a trip to the big game. It has been 30 plus years for WAS and almost 30 for Dallas. That’s mind-blowing when you really think about it.

Buffalo has been terrific in recent years, but hasn’t been to the Super Bowl since 1994. The Ravens have had some great seasons. They haven’t been to the Super Bowl since 2012. Green Bay hasn’t been since 2010, despite having a Hall of Fame QB for most of that time.

There are times when I’m ready to be done with Sirianni. Then I think about who would replace him. Maybe you hit a home run and hire the next McVay, Shanahan, LaFleur, O’Connell, etc. But you can’t count on that. You also have a bunch of failures. There are plenty of teams who would love to have Sirianni’s issues if that also meant winning games and going to the playoffs.

The way this season plays out will determine his future. If the Eagles go to the playoffs, he’ll likely stick around. If the team falls apart, he’ll get his walking papers. The situation gets complicated if the Eagles finish 9-8, but miss the postseason. I certainly hope that doesn’t happen. Fly or fall. Something in the middle would lead to a miserable start to the offseason.

I know some people think Sirianni wins purely because of talent. Howie’s built a good roster and Sirianni does just enough to deliver wins. I think that is selling Sirianni short. I’ve been following the league long enough that I don’t think many coaches win strictly because of talent. He’s hired good coaches during his tenure (with the exception of last year). The players seem to like Sirianni. His aggressive play-calling has given the Eagles an advantage at times. Those decisions haven’t been as good this year and the rest of the league has caught up with the Eagles aggressive approach so this isn’t the advantage that it was.

I don’t have a problem with people being critical of Sirianni, but it just felt like it started to get out of control. We’ve seen some bad coaches and some bad people in the NFL. Sirianni has been a winning coach and the people around him seem to like him. Rip him for his faults, but make sure to give the guy credit for the good stuff as well.

*****

Jordan Mailata is going to miss a couple of weeks. That means Fred Johnson will probably take over at LT. The Eagles have options, but he makes the most sense.

Darius Slay is day-to-day so nothing too serious with him.

I haven’t seen an update on Dallas Goedert.

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